Sisters to face off at Qld indoor hockey challenge in Rocky

INDOOR HOCKEY: Siblings will become rivals at the Queensland under-13 girls indoor hockey challenge in the Beef Capital this weekend.

Ella McDonnell and Taylah Vidler will play for Rockhampton Red, while younger sisters Amelia McDonnell and Charlie Vidler will line up with Rockhampton Black at the three-day tournament at CQUniversity.

Fifteen teams from across the state will go head-to-head at the event, which starts with an all-Rockhampton showdown in the opening game at 7pm on Friday.

Rockhampton Red coach Jeff James said the girls were excited to be playing in front of their home crowd.

"We will be pushing to finish in the top two but above all it's about developing the girls' skills and ensuring they have fun,” he said.

"I like to keep things simple so I'll be urging the girls to play together as a team, work hard on their essential skills and never give up.

"It will be interesting coming up against the other Rocky team first up, and there will be some family rivalry there with two sets of sisters in the teams.

"It's always good to get the first game under your belt and hopefully playing against some familiar faces will help settle the nerves and get the girls into the rhythm of the challenge.”

James said Storm Duke would bring her 2017 Queensland indoor rep experience to the team and be ably supported by Shanelle James, Ella McDonnell, Sophie Hammond and Taylah Vidler.